Heyday

Have you ever slogged through 600+ pages of a novel hoping that it might improve? Do you feel illogically driven to finish a book? We have a disease, you and I, possibly obsessive compulsive disorder, and as a fellow sufferer I mercifully suggest that you avoid this novel. The trouble is, the writin......more

Historical fiction is compelling to me, especially the more detail-oriented ones. This one is nowhere near the scope or success of a Neal Stephenson, but some would say that's a good thing. Still, though, it's a compelling read, thick with plot, taking place during 1848-49 between France, London, Ne......more

This book was too long. I love 19th-century historical fiction and there's some great stuff here as the group of friends travel from Paris to New York and eventually California during the Gold Rush. Unbeknownst to them, a vengeful killer is tracking them on their cross-country journey. The year 1848......more

A fresh, impeccable portrait of an era startlingly reminiscent of our own times, Heyday is by turns tragic and funny and sublime, filled with bona fide heroes and lost souls, visionaries (Walt Whitman, Charles Darwin, Alexis de Tocqueville) and monsters, expanding horizons and narrow escapes. It is......more

Oh. My. Goodness. I LOVED this book. I would even go so far as to say it was one of the best I've read this year. I am not usually a historical fiction fan. I would have never picked this book up based on a jacket or a blurb. I did pick it up because I am systematically reading through my public lib......more